Furnace air-supply construction



Oct- 27, 1925- R. H. KUSS FURNACE AIR SUPPLY CONSTRUCTION Filed June 23, 1921 f 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' Oct. 27, 1925- w i W & 1 m m & 0O D3333: fl J H i r n H m R. l-L'Kuss FURNACE AIR SUPPLY CONSTRUCTIOI Filed Juno 23. 1921 E 1 a. g 4 V////////// iQlw v CC: GEE-1;

7/ /%//%%/////A z a m m Patented Oct. 27, 1925.

ROBERT H. KUSS, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, nssienon 'ro K-R FURNACE "COMPANYJA PAT EiNT! CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS,

FURNACE AIR-SUPIPLY CONSTRUCTION.

Application filed- June 23,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, Romnrr H. lines, a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of Chicago, Cool: County, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Furnace Air-Supply Construc tions, of which the following is a specification.

I This invention relates to furnaces in general, and more particularly to furnaces in which means areprovi'ded -for insuring'a' supply of air to the bed of fuel "on the grate, and for heating the air before itpasses into the combustion chambeiy thereby to promote combustion. i

Generally stated, therefore, the object of the-invention is to provide a novel and' im: proved: construction whereby air isrsupplied from below the grate in a furnace, throughinstrumenta-lities. at the edge or edges there of to-the bed of fuelonthe grate, thus insuring a heating of the. air before it enters the combustion chamber over the-grate.

Another object is to provide an: improved construction and arrangement whereby said means for supplying the air are adapted'to engag the fuel. on the 'grate, thus, limiting the lateral spreadot the bed of fuel, or limiting its forward. movement.-towardthe bridge wall atthe end of the grate, and whereby means; are provided for retaining the fuel on the grate at" the edge or edges thereof in a manner that not only insures a free passage of the air from below the grate to the fuel on the latter, but which also insures more effectively against burn ing out of the furnace walls where the fire crowds against the sidesof the-combustion chamber, at the edgesof the grate, orwherev the intensely burning? fuel: finally *arrives' against th bri-dge Wall at-theloweiuend of the grate, aswillhereinafter more fully appear.

It is also an object to provide certain details and features of construction tending.-

to increase. the general etiiciency and the' serviceability of a furnace having air supplying means of this particular character.

To theforegoing and other usefuleuds the invention consists in matters-hereinafter set forth and claimed and! shown in the-accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal section. of a furnace having-en air supplyv construction 1921. Serial No. 479,748."

at each side thereof, immediately above the opposite edges of the grate, audalong the front edge of the grate where the intensely burning 'fuel'and ashes and clinlrers final-1y. arrive against the brldge wall, embodyrng:

As thus illustrated, thegrate may be of any suitable known" or approved construe tion, but as shownpreferably comprises the inclined grate bars 1 whichare controlled by a shaker lever or handleQ through the "me- ClIHIHOf'thG supporting mechanism 8rcarried;

on the inclined side=fra1nes 4. of. the-grate structure. The 'lower portion-5 of the grate ispre-ferably horizontal-and is disposed im" mediately in front ofthe bridgerwall- 6, so

that the fuel cokes and burns as it slides down the inclinedjportion-of the-grate, from the=feed--hopper 7, and finally burns intensely and is consumed onv the horizontal section-0f the grate immediately infront ofsaid'bridgev wall; The tire arch 8 above the grate forms! thereof of the combus-tionchamber below the boiler 9;andthe balance of-t'he furnace and boiler'equipmentmay be of any suitable or desired character.

The air supply construction whiclr con stitutes the invention is "preferably constructed as follows It' will be seen that; the 1 side frames' t, as shown in-Figures3 and 4:,

are disposed flatwise against-the masonryside walls 10 of thefurnace and provided on their outer surfaces alongth'eir uppen edges with short ribs orlugs 11 which extend into the recesses 12 formed in saidwalls; grate-likc-bars 13* are provided with teeth" 14; on their inner sides-and have their outer: sides provided with depending portions: 15- which extend under" and thereby interlock with the ribs or lugs: 11 previously '1nentioned;- Infiassemblin'g thegratestructure, the grate-like bars K 13: are placed in; position 011* the side Y frames t and: the masonry walls 10 is on a larger scale than-Figfe The are then built in position as shown, overhanging the bars 13, thus holding the bars 13 firmly in position, and preventing the fuel from resting on these bars. It will be seen that'these bars 18 extend along the side edges of the grate, and that the teeth 1% extend toward the fuel on the grate and provide passages between them for the air, so that the air passes upwardly from below the grate and through said passages and then toward the fuel in the combustion chamber above the grate. In this way, the air is heated and allowed to pass upwardly at opposite sides of the bed of fuel on the grate, so that not only is combustion promoted, but whereby in addition the side walls of the furnace are prevented from burning out, inasmuch as the burning fuel is held against lateral spreading by a sort of greatlike structure at opposite sides of the furnace, and inasmuch as air is not only fed upwardly through the grate to the fuel thereon, but also outwardly and upwardly around the outer edges of the grate to the sides of the bed of fuel. As the air passes upwardly through the spaces 16 at opposite sides of the grate, between the grate bars and the side frames 1-, it is heated by the fire on the grate, and this heated air then passes upwardly through the spaces or passages formed between the teeth 1% and is thus more effectively heated before it reaches the sides of the fuel bed carried on the grate. The grate bars of the main grate sustain the weight of the bed of fuel, and the latter is flanked on both sides by the abutment like structure formed by the grate like bars 13, therteeth of the latter engaging the sides of the fuel bed to resist the thrust or inclination of the fuel to spread lateral-- ly. The bars 13, course, are removable and replaceable, by properly tearing away or cutting out the masonrv of the wall 10, in a manner that will be readily understood, or by any other method that will permit outwart displacement of the bars 13 far enough to disengage their interlocking portions 15 from the ribs or lugs 11 previously described.

At the end of the grate, where the intensely burning fuel and'ashes and clinkers finally arrive against thebridge wall 6, the latter is provided with a bar 17 set in the masonry of the bridge wall and provided with teeth 18 which extend forward against the burning fuel and ashes and clinkers, whereby spaces or passages are formed between said teeth 18 for the up; ward passage of the air from below the grate to the space over the fire in front of the bridge wall. The air thus supplied upwardly directly in front of the bridge wall not only promotes combustion, as it is highly heated before reaching the combustion hamber, but also cools the structure atthis the side frame members.

point on the bridge wall and tends to pre vent burning out thereof. The bar 17 can be made removable in any suitable or desired manner so that it can be replaced with a new one when necessary or desirable. It will be seen that the teeth 18 extend abow the plane of the top of the horizontal grate section 5, and in Figure 2 it will be seen that the bar 17 reaches clear across and forms a transverse continuation of the two rows of bars 13 previously described. Thus the fuel in crowding sidewise or spreading laterally is not only opposed by gratelike bars which limit this outward crowding tendency of the bed of fuel, but which supply heated air directly to the sides of the bed of fuel; and in a similar manner the fuel and ashes and clinkers which finally arrive at the bridge wall are opposed by the teeth of a grate-like construction which supplies air upwardly between the grate and the bridge wall to the fire at this point in the combustion chamber.

In effect, therefore, to a certain extent the furnished grate structure is practically turned up at its opposite side edges to pro vide upstanding parallel side portions which restrict the lateral spread of the fuel on the grate, and which in addition supply heated air to the sides of the bed of fuel. The upturned rim thus provided for the metal grate structure is in effect continued transversely across the front of the bridge wall, not by means forming part of the metal grate structure, but suitable means supported directly on the grate wall as previously described.

The teeth 14, it will be seen, overhang the inner sides of the side frame members 4, and come close to the grate structure, so that air can pass upwardly between the teeth, but whereby the fuel will not fall down between the grate and the side frame members. As the side bars 13 interlock with the portions 11 on the outer sides of the side frame members, they are held in place by the walls 10 which overhang the bars 3, and which hold the latter in position on the upper edges of The side bars 13 are arranged end to end along the sides of the inclined portion of the grate, but a single bar 13 is sufficient at each side of the lower horizontal portion 5 of the grate, substantially as shown in the drawings in which the structure indicated is illustrative of the invention. It will be seen that the side walls 10 extend over the side bars 13 and are flush inside with the teetht 14: of said bars, whereby nothing ean lodge on top of the teeth 14, and the inner surfaces of the walls are flush, but have means as explained for supplying air to the sides of the body of fuel.

WVhat I claim as my invention is:

1. In furnace grate construction, the combination of side frame members spaced lUJ lll)

apart, a grate structure between said members, side bars disposed on the upper edges of said members and having their inner sides provided with teeth overhanging the inner sides of said members, interlocking means on said bars to extend down a distance outside said members, means on said members to engage said interlocking members, said bars extending above the plane of the grate, and outer walls disposed in position to maintain said bars in position on said members, with space between said members and the grate structure to permit air to pass upwardly between said teeth to the sides of the bed of fuel on the grate.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, said interlocking means comprising lugs disposed a distance from the ends of each bar, said en gaging means on said members comprising portions extending over said lugs.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1, said walls extending over said bars and having their inner surfaces flush With said teeth.

4. A structure as specified in claim 1, a portion of said grate being inclined, and comprising a horizontal section at the lower end of the inclined portion, with said bars arranged end to end along each side of the inclined portion, and with one horizontal bar at each side of said horizontal section.

5. A. structure as specified in claim 1, said bars being disposed end to end along the upper edges. of said members, so that all of said teeth extend close to the sides of said grate structure.

ROBERT H. KUSS. 

